Elite struggles bear watching, but no reason for panic

SAN ANTONIO — I learned all I needed to know about the futility of the NBA’s regular season on Feb. 1, 1998.

That was the day I watched, while nursing a vicious hangover in Laredo, Texas, Shaquille O’Neal and the Los Angeles Lakers absolutely obliterate Michael Jordan’s two-time defending-champion Bulls, 112-97. It had all the makings of a passing of the torch, with the exception for one critical detail.

It came midway through the regular season, almost three months before the playoffs started. And we all know what happened when they did: The Lakers imploded in spectacular fashion against Utah in the Western Conference Finals, while the Bulls battled their way to a third straight title.

So much for statements. That isn’t to say regular-season games are completely meaningless. But they’re pretty close, at least in terms of any sort of function as a legitimate barometer for future performance in the postseason, when it truly matters.

Witness last season, when the Spurs limped down the stretch at 10-10, only to rebound — with the help of Russell Westbrook’s knee injury, of course — and come within seconds of winning their fifth NBA title.

As such, the Spurs’ underwhelming performance against teams with winning records — 4-5, including 0-5 against the top clubs on their schedule after Monday’s 115-92 loss to the Clippers — should be taken with a grain of salt.

It’s certainly an interesting trend, one that bears watching as the season wears on. But it also needs to be examined in context. The regular season is played under totally different circumstances than the playoffs, with travel and the tight schedule having almost as much impact as the competition teams face on the court.

Case in point: Monday’s game was the Spurs’ fifth in seven days, with all five preceded by travel. Little wonder they fell apart so dramatically over the game’s final seven minutes, during which the Clippers clobbered them 29-10.

The common thread among this minute sample size, and it’s a troubling one, is how poorly the Spurs, despite boasting the league’s No. 2 defense in points per 100 possessions (currently 98.9), have played against some of the better offenses.

They’ve certainly had their moments, holding No. 5 New Orleans and No. 7 Phoenix roughly 16 and 12 points, respectively, under their typical production per 100.